Firm wins £1.4m hospital deal

A Walsall Wood firm has won a £1m-plus contract to restructure a Midland hospital. Niken Construction Limited has clinched the £1.4m deal.

The contract will reorganise the set-up at Cannock Chase Hospital in Cannock.

Work to clear the ground floor and move services into the first and second floors will begin in January.

The firm won the job after refurbishing the hospital's Coppice Ward and completing the accident and emergency department at Staffordshire General Hospital in Stafford.

Martin Yeates, chief executive of Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, said: "We are delighted to award the contract to a local company, employing local people."

Nick Plant, managing director of the firm, in Hall Lane, said securing the job was cause for celebration and added: "We look forward to continuing our good working relationship with the trust."

The work is expected to be completed by next autumn.

Services will be concentrated on the top two floors of the hospital so the ground level can be leased to other health organisations.

The trust will save an estimated £500,000 a year in overheads by vacating the ground floor.